TBC celebrates 40 years

THIS year was the 40th in the history of the Torquay Boardriders Club. In March we celebrated in fine TBC style with a night for the ages at the Torquay SLSC. Australia’s number one ACDC cover band almost setting the venue alight, and key club members told a story to represent each decade of our rich history. It was a great night for all involved.

At our core, one of TBC’s key focuses is striving to maintain Torquay’s position as the dominant competitive club in Victoria, with special attention paid on our junior members to ensure future competitive success in team and individual events.

This line, taken directly from the Surfing Victoria event press release, is a special moment for myself as President; “Torquay Boardriders Club have won their eighth straight Victorian Teams Titles yesterday at Bells Beach, cementing the past decade in history as the most successful Boardriders Club in Victorian history”.

Showcasing our depth, we claimed our third consecutive Victorian Junior Teams Title as well.

Also, on the domestic front, we won the Victorian qualifier of the Sailor Jerry Surftag Series on the Mornington Peninsula.

Several years ago we set a key target to perform on a National Level and I am extremely proud to say that our 40th year also saw our greatest performances on the big stage:
• 6th – Australian Boardriders Battle National Final.
• 4th – Kirra Teams Challenge
• 4th – Sailor Jerry National Final.

The single biggest challenge we face as a committee continues to be managing our staggering membership numbers, while ensuring we can continue to deliver high quality events to all divisions. Our committee is working really hard to implement critical measures to ensure we can maintain our core values and respect our rich history.

Our junior Bells Angels brigade continue to fly the #gohardorgohome flag, with TBC members claiming countless victories at some of the biggest junior events in the country.

In just a couple of weeks’ time, TBC has 12 members heading to South Australia to represent Victoria at the Australian Junior Titles. The club is proud to have such a strong representation and be in a unique position to financially assist them in their pursuit of Australian Titles.

India Robinson’s 2018 QS campaign brought a great deal of joy and excitement to our community. India finished the season rated 21st, capped off with her maiden QS win at the Phillip Island Pro.

On Saturday night we crowned divisional champions for divisions ranging from Under 8’s through to Over 55’s. While at its essence surfing is an individual sport, I continue to be blown away at by the special way TBC serves as a gathering of such an incredible group of people, enriching our community in immeasurable ways.

It was a night for the goofy footers on a divisional champion front, with Tully Wylie and Angela Ball winning the Open Men’s and Women’s divisions.

Tully is only the second right foot forward surfer in the history of the club to have won the Open Men’s Title, with the only other being Geoff Tarr in 1994.

A personal highlight from the night for myself was “Fast” Eddie Hart being awarded a Life Membership for his unwavering long-term contribution to the club. Eddie was the TBC Open Men’s champion in 1982 and 86. In his 38 years of membership, Eddie has worked tirelessly to greatly shape the fabric of the club. Thanks Eddie!

Our club would be nothing without the monumental support we get from our amazing sponsors and the incredible work done by our 100 per cent volunteer committee. On behalf of the club and committee I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to TBC in 2018 and I am really looking forward to watching our club continue to go from strength to strength in 2019 and beyond.

Key upcoming dates:

November 21st – AGM at the office of Surfing Victoria.
November 24th – Australian Boardriders Battle.
December 9th – Supatramp Grom party.
January 26th 2019 – Annual Single Fin Event.

Cahill Bell-Warren
President
#GOHARDORGOHOME